Becker's lawyers argued his post as attache diplomatic immunity under the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, which meant he "cannot be subject to legal process in the courts of any country for so long as he remains a recognised diplomatic agent".

Through his lawyers, Becker had said the bank's decision to sue him was "both unjustified and unjust".

"A bunch of anonymous and unaccountable bankers and bureaucrats pushed me into a completely unnecessary declaration of bankruptcy, which has inflicted a whole heap of damage on me," he said late last week.

"Once this gravy train for the suits has been stopped in its tracks, my lawyers will turn to the question of compensation."

In the statement, Becker went on say his attache role for the CAR would allow him to give something meaningful back to sports supporters in one of the poorest parts of the world.

"There's no reason why a role of this kind should be treated any differently to an appointment as a military or a trade attache, which everyone recognises as attracting diplomatic immunity," he said.